Defensive youth hasn't crippled Virginia -- yet
For all of the explosiveness Virginia boasted on offense, one issue that troubled coach Dom Starsia was the relative inexperience on the other side of the field.
Yes, the No. 2 Cavaliers are anchored by senior goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman, junior defenseman Matt Lovejoy and senior long-stick midfielder Bray Malphrus, but the starting defense also includes freshman defenseman Scott McWilliams and three more first-year starters in redshirt junior defenseman Chris Clements, sophomore short-stick defensive midfielder Blake Riley and freshman short-stick defensive midfielder Bobby Hill.
That unit’s youth was exposed in Virginia’s 12-10 loss to No. 1 Syracuse, which outscored the Cavaliers, 5-2, in the second half on Friday night.
Starsia did not seem alarmed by the defense’s vulnerability.
“I think we just need the confidence and experience that comes with doing things,” he said Tuesday. “We play a schedule that you hope will help you grow up in the process. You just look at the two teams in comparison, and – this is not a criticism in any shape or form – they have three first-team All Americans in their defensive half, and I’ve got a midfielder playing defense in his first year and a freshman starting on close defense and two new short-stick D-middies. I can tell them everything I want, but they need to see it and live through it. Those are the most valuable lessons of all. And I think we will be better off because of this in the long haul. I don’t come away from the game discouraged at all. We simply made too many mistakes against a veteran offensive team in situations that I think if there’s another opportunity, we’ll be better at it.”
Virginia’s defense will be tested Saturday by No. 13 Cornell at the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Both teams entertain mid-week games after enduring losses last weekend, setting the stage for what could be a significant game in both squads’ fortunes.
“I don’t think [a loss] will do irreparable harm to either program, but I think for both teams, our theme will be to get back on track between tonight and Saturday and hopefully, we’ll get back on a winning track,” Starsia said. “These are two teams with national aspirations, and these are the kind of games that you play and then you don’t think about them for a great deal until it kind of comes up in April and May when you’re looking at seeding the teams and determining playoff possibilities. I think this is a game that will have long-term playoff implications over the course of the season. We don’t have to dwell on that part of it. We just want to continue to improve and get better, but at the end of the day, I think it’s a meaningful test for both of these teams.”
